Before configuring the MapApp

Complete the following prerequisite tasks before configuring the MapApp.

• Set up accounts with the various map providers and, on each provider, define the map(s) that you want to use in the MapApp.

  See Configure global MapApp properties for a list of map providers supported by the MapApp. Each map provider includes a unique set of properties that must be configured in the MapApp.

• Create user credentials if your map providers require an API key or a specific user account to access their data.

  See Create user credentials for instructions to authenticate users by OS-based security credentials.

• If desired, create a local map server to store geographic data from the various supported map vendors. This is not required, but allows you to retrieve the map information at runtime from your local map server instead of from the map provider using the Internet.

  See Set up a map server for an example of setting up and using an open source map server to store your map data.

  Note: This example explains how to set up a map server using open source Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and another open source product called GeoServer. This example is intended to show the typical workflows to create a map server to store your map data on a local server. But, there are a wide variety of other commercial and open source products that can be used to build a map server and you are not restricted to the combination of products used in this example.

• Create a set of graphics to show the location of your assets on a map.

  Design graphics large enough to be viewed easily at different map layers yet small enough not to overlap other graphics in the same layer. If you want, configure the graphic to show the current alarm state of some process variable occurring at the geographic asset.